In a bad year for hedge funds, top 25 managers earned $11.62 billion in 2014

Citadel&#039;s Kenneth C. Griffin earned $1.3 billion, topping the list of hedge fund managers

(Image credit: Larry Busacca/Getty Images/New York Times)

Last year wasn't great for investors in hedge funds: On average, hedge funds returned a paltry 3 percent, versus a gain of 13.68 percent on the S&P 500 (with reinvested dividends included), The New York Times reports. Only five of the top 10 hedge fund managers, as ranked by Institutional Investor's Alpha, performed better than the S&P 500. But even though the well-heeled and institutional investors in hedge funds got hosed, The Times notes, "for those who managed their money, the pay was spectacular": $11.62 billion for the top 25 managers.

Or as Alpha puts it, they made "a paltry $11.62 billion combined, barely half of the $21.15 billion the top 25 gained the previous year and roughly equal to what they took home during nightmarish 2008." Citadel's Kenneth Griffin (pictured) was the top earner, at $1.3 billion last year, but the average earning was "just $476 million," not the $846 billion in 2013, Alpha added. And you may now take out your tiny violins.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.